Reinforcing device and a bifacial reinforcing unit for earthworks and a method for the production of a reinforced earthwork

ABSTRACT

A reinforcing device for earthworks comprises at least one reinforcing base element ( 3 ) from which extend a front wall ( 9 ) and a containment wall ( 15 ) which are spaced from each other to delimit, in an operative configuration in which they are erected with respect to the reinforcing base element ( 3 ), a facing region which is to be filled with filling material, such as stones or the like. The device also comprises bracket means ( 23 ) which can be coupled, in use, to the front wall ( 9 ) and to the containment wall ( 15 ). It is also possible to produce a second front wall which extends from the reinforcing base element ( 3 ) on the side opposite the first. A method for the production of a reinforced earthwork provides for laying on the ground a device of the type indicated.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of reinforced earthworks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention was developed with particular regard to a reinforcingdevice for earthworks, comprising at least one reinforcing base elementfrom which a front wall extends, a containment wall extending from thereinforcing base element at a distance from the front wall in order todelimit at the rear, in an operative configuration in which the frontwall and the containment wall are erected with respect to thereinforcing base element, a facing region which is to be filled withfilling material, such as stones or the like.

In addition, the present invention was developed also with reference toa bifacial reinforcing unit for earthworks and to a method for theproduction of a reinforced earthwork having a facing composed of stonesor the like.

It is known in the field to produce parallelepipedal wire nettinggabions filled with stones and superposed on one another to form asoil-supporting structure in which the filling stones define a visiblesurface or facing.

One of the problems of the prior art is the high cost of installinggabions, which is caused above all by two factors. The first factor isthe difficulty of obtaining stones of a suitable size, which often makesit necessary to transport them to the site concerned from longdistances. The stones have to be of a size larger than the dimensions ofthe meshes of the netting used for the gabions in order to prevent themfrom falling out and therefore causing the facing to be emptied. Thesecond cost factor is associated with the filling of the gabions withthe stones, which has to be carried out manually in order to obtain anaesthetically acceptable visible face with a uniform distribution of thestones.

Also known are bifacial reinforcing units composed of a gabion which isassembled beforehand and superposed on a reinforcing base element in amanner suitable for guaranteeing the essential structural continuity.This leads to higher costs owing to the doubling of material in thebottom region of the gabion.

The object of the present invention is to solve the problems of theprior art and in particular to provide a reinforcing device and abifacial reinforcing unit for earthworks and a method for producingearthworks which permit rapid and economical installation with minimummanual intervention, at the same time ensuring the production ofaesthetic facings for the earthworks. A further object is to providereinforcing devices and bifacial reinforcing units which are economicalto produce, and to obtain a high degree of reliability and strength overtime for the earthworks produced by means of the present invention.

In order to achieve the objects indicated above, the present inventionrelates to a reinforcing device for earthworks of the type indicated inthe preamble of the present description, which comprises bracket meanswhich can be coupled, in use, to the front wall and to the containmentwall in order to maintain them in the operative configuration withoutconstituting a substantial obstacle to the filling material of thefacing region.

The advantage of such a device is the ability to fill the facing regionbetween the front wall and the containment wall using mechanical means,for example, earth-moving machines, such as mechanical shovels. Thematerial poured into the facing region by a shovel flows freely tooccupy uniformly all of the available volume, not encountering obstacleson the part of the bracket means and thus accelerating the time taken toinstall the reinforcing device.

The bracket means may comprise one or more bracket members located inthe facing region, each coupled, in use, to the front wall and to thecontainment wall. Preferably, the bracket members comprise quadrangularbrackets with two opposing sides coupled to the front wall and to thecontainment wall, respectively, and one of the other sides located nearthe reinforcing base element. This feature affords the advantage ofproviding maximum stability and rigidity for the front wall and thecontainment wall during the filling operation, thus preventing them frombeing deformed by the pressure of the filling material.

The bracket members can therefore be produced using a metal rod, a metalsection bar or the like. In that case, the bracket means are veryeconomical and are easy to produce, which is why it is also possible touse a very large number of them, thus improving the rigidity of thereinforcing device.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention,the reinforcing base element and the front wall comprise a first and asecond netting structure, respectively, the meshes of the second nettingstructure being more closely packed than the meshes of the first nettingstructure.

It is therefore possible to reduce the dimensions of the fillingmaterials, of the stones or the like, introduced into the facing region,thus making them easier to obtain and economical. The stones of asmaller size than those traditionally used for the manual filling ofknown gabions also facilitate the introduction thereof using themechanical means and the uniform distribution thereof in the facingregion, thus promoting the aesthetics thereof.

Preferably, the second netting structure of the front wall comprises afirst wire netting having hexagonal meshes and a second wire nettinghaving meshes which differ from those of the first wire netting. Thesecond wire netting and the first wire netting are coupled to each otherto give, as the overall result of the coupling thereof, the secondnetting structure having meshes that are more closely packed than themeshes of the first netting structure of the reinforcing base element.

Preferably, although this does not constitute a limitation, the secondwire netting is a netting having square meshes, for example of theelectrically welded type.

The first wire netting of the front wall and the netting structure ofthe reinforcing base element may advantageously be folded portions of asingle wire netting.

The containment wall of the present invention may advantageously becovered with a geotextile material in order to prevent any finematerials in contact with the containment wall outside the facing regionfrom penetrating into the spaces between the filling stones of thefacing.

The objects indicated above are also achieved by a bifacial reinforcingunit for earthworks which comprises a reinforcing device of the typeindicated above with the addition of a second front wall which extendsfrom the reinforcing base element on a side opposite the first frontwall of the reinforcing device.

The main advantage deriving from the use of such a reinforcing unit toproduce works having a central core of reinforced earth and two opposinglateral facings is the speed and economy of installation, to which isadded the economical nature of the production of the unit which is dueto the saving of material, compared with known units, in the productionof the reinforcing base element.

A preferred method for achieving the objects indicated and producing areinforced earthwork having a facing of stones or the like comprises thestages of laying down the reinforcing base element of a reinforcingdevice according to the present invention, erecting the front wall andthe containment wall, holding them erect and spaced in the operativecondition using the bracket means, filling the facing region delimitedby the front wall and the containment wall with a first fillingmaterial, such as stones or the like, having dimensions substantiallylarger than the dimensions of the meshes of the front wall in order toform a portion of stone facing, filling and levelling with a second,different, filling material, such as earth, sand, crushed stone or thelike and their combinations, the region affected by the reinforcing baseelement, which region is outside the facing region, to a heightsubstantially equal to the height of the front wall and the containmentwall, and repeating the previous stages, superposing on one another insuccession a predetermined number of reinforcing devices until thedesired height of the reinforced earthwork is reached.

Preferably, the filling of the facing region is carried out using themechanical means already mentioned in order to benefit from the reducedinstallation times which result therefrom, and therefore to benefit fromthe lower production costs.

If a bifacial reinforcing unit of the type described above is used, themethod also comprises, for each repetition, the formation of a secondportion of a second facing at the location of the second front wall,which preferably permits subsequent re-growth of vegetation on thesecond facing. In that case, it is particularly advantageous from theaesthetic and practical point of view to incline each second front wallof each reinforcing unit with respect to the reinforcing base element bya predetermined angle, and to produce the reinforcing base element ofeach subsequently superposed reinforcing unit with smaller dimensionsthan that of the reinforcing unit underneath in order to produce thesecond facing which is inclined overall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages will become clear from the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments which is given purelyby way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective diagrammatic view of a bifacial reinforcing unitfor earthworms according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bifacial reinforcing unit of FIG. 1, in afinished configuration,

FIGS. 3 to 5 show the stages of production of a reinforcing device forearthworks according to a different embodiment of the present invention,

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are side views of one end of reinforced earthworksproduced by means of reinforcing devices of FIGS. 3 to 5, and

FIG. 9 is a perspective diagrammatic view of a portion of anotherembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bifacial reinforcing unit 1 forproducing reinforced earthworks comprises a netting 2 which ispreferably, although this does constitute a limitation, made of metalwith double-twist meshes 4 and which comprises a substantially flatcentral portion or reinforcement base 3. At its ends, the base portion 3has a box-shaped structure 5, in the form of a wire netting gabion, anda “C”-shaped structure 7, respectively, which extend over the entirelength of the respective ends of the central portion 3 on which they areformed.

The box-shaped structure 5 comprises a front wall 9 which issubstantially at right-angles to the central portion 3 to which it isconnected along an edge 11. Preferably, the front wall 9 is a firstportion of the netting 2 folded along the edge 11. Extending from thefront wall 9 is then a covering wall 13 which is preferably a furtherportion of the netting 2, folded on the folding line 12, parallel withthe edge 11. The covering wall 13 is movable with respect to the frontwall 9 from a raised position, indicated in FIG. 1, to a loweredposition shown in FIG. 2.

One edge 17 of a containment wall 15 is connected to the central portion3 in parallel with the edge 11, in a position which is set back relativeto that edge. The containment wall 15 is preferably movable between aposition lying on the central portion 3 to a position substantially atright-angles thereto. The free edges 19 and 21 of the covering wall 13and of the containment wall 15 can be joined to form a closed chamberwhich has a substantially quadrangular cross-section and which isdelimited by the walls 9, 13 and 15 and by part of the central portion3, as shown in FIG. 2.

In their erect position, the front wall 9 and the containment wall 15are supported by bracket means, such as, for example, rectangularbrackets 23, which are produced, for example, using sectional members23, such as steel rods, bent in accordance with a substantially closedand quadrangular line. The brackets 23 preferably also have a side lyingon the central portion 3 and are disposed transversely to the front wall9 and the containment wall 15 in a position such as to subdivide thevolume of the box-shaped structure into at least two communicatingregions.

The front wall 9 may comprise, in addition to the netting 2, or as analternative thereto, a different netting structure or panel 27, forexample electrically welded or double-twist netting, with meshes 26different from those of the netting 2, for example, because they aresmaller or have a different shape.

When the front wall 9 comprises the double netting structure, the panel27 is preferably, although this does not constitute a limitation,positioned on the face of the front wall 9 facing the inside of thebox-shaped structure 5 and is arranged in such a manner that the frontwall 9 has, overall, smaller meshes than those of the netting 2. Thepanel 27 and the netting 2 of the front wall 9 are preferably superposedon each other with the respective meshes offset relative to each other.

The box-shaped structure 5 may also comprise a further covering element28, with a first portion 28 a which covers one face of the containmentwall 15 and, preferably, a second portion 28 b lying on the centralportion 3. Preferably, the covering element 28 comprises a sheet ofmaterial suitable for holding back fine materials, such as, for example,a sheet of geotextile material or of electrically welded or double-twistwire netting having meshes that are finer than those of the netting 2.In addition, the covering element 28 may cover the one or the other faceof the containment wall 15.

At the other end of the central portion 3, the “C”-shaped structure 7comprises an inclined front wall 29 connected to the central portion 3along an edge 31 thereof. The inclined wall 29 is preferably a secondlateral portion of the netting 2 folded along the edge 31.

Extending from the upper edge 35 of the inclined wall 29 is then anupper flap 33 which is preferably a further folded portion of thenetting 2 and which can pass from a raised position shown in FIG. 1 tothe position shown in FIG. 2 in which it forms the upper side of the“C”-shaped structure 7.

The front wall 9 may also have meshes with reduced dimensions comparedwith those of the central portion 3 in a manner analogous to thatdescribed above with reference to the front wall 9.

Brackets 37, for example made from a bent steel rod, support the frontwall 29 in its inclined position.

The inside of the “C”-shaped structure 7 may be covered with a sheet ofgeotextile material 39 which contributes to the production of aninclined facing on which vegetation can grow again.

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate the stages of production of a re-inforcingdevice according to the invention in a version which is simplified orwithout an inclined facing compared with the bifacial example describedabove. A netting 2 is folded at one of its ends along the marker lines11's and 12's to form the front wall 9 and the covering wall 13 of thebox-shaped structure 5. The containment wall 15 is then joined to thecentral portion 3 of the netting 2 in a known manner. The front wall 9and the containment wall 15 are erected and joined to the brackets 23while the covering wall 13 is left in a position not joined to thecontainment wall 15. The brackets 23 can be joined to the reinforcingdevice la directly at the construction site at the time of installationor they may be provided in a form coupled to one of the walls of thebox-shaped structure 5 and pivotable from a position lying on that wallinto the operative position of FIG. 5. The lying-down position isfavourable to the transport of the reinforcing device la in the foldedcondition.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an earthwork 41 comprises a plurality ofreinforcing devices 1 a or, alternatively, a plurality of bifacialreinforcing units 1, superposed on one another with the sidescorresponding to the box-shaped structure 5 arranged to form a singlevertical wall 43. In a different way, if the box-shaped structures 5 aresuperposed in a manner in which they are offset relative to one another,a lateral wall 44 with steps is obtained, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Inone possible variant illustrated in FIG. 9, the front wall 9 is inclinedwith respect to the central portion 3 by an angle smaller than ninetydegrees, in which case the brackets 23 have a trapezoidal shape and thesuperposition of the reinforcing devices 1 a produces a single inclinedwall 45 like that illustrated in FIG. 8. A single inclined wall 45 ofthe same type may also be obtained on one side of the earthwork 41,produced by the superposition of the “C”-shaped structures 7, whenbifacial reinforcing units 1 are used, in order to produce a taperedearthwork.

During installation, a bifacial reinforcing unit 1, or a reinforcingdevice 1 a, is supported on the soil with the central portion 3 incontact with the ground and the box-shaped structure 5 and the“C”-shaped structure 7 facing upwards. The wall 13, and optionally theflap panel 33, are initially in a raised position shown in FIGS. 1 and5, while the front wall 9 and the containment wall 15 are supported in avertical position by the brackets 23, defining the internal chamber ofthe box-shaped structure 5. The internal chamber is filled byintroducing, using a mechanical means, such as a mechanical shovel,filling material, for example stones of a small size, which flows freelyinside the chamber, filling it without being obstructed by the brackets23. The material is then levelled to the height of the top of thebox-shaped structure 5 and the covering wall 13 is joined to thecontainment wall 15 to close the filling material in the box-shapedstructure 5. The completion of the reinforced earthwork is effected inaccordance with techniques and methods known to persons skilled in theart.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, thedetails and features of construction and the forms of embodiment may bevaried widely with respect to those described and illustrated, withoutthereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

1. A bifacial reinforcing unit for earthworks, comprising a reinforcingdevice having at least one reinforcing base element from which a firstfront wall extends, a containment wall extending from the reinforcingbase element at a distance from the first front wall in order to delimitat the rear, in an operative configuration in which the first front walland the containment wall are erected with respect to the reinforcingbase element, a first facing region which is to be filled with fillingmaterial a bracket coupled, in use, to the first front wall and to thecontainment wall in order to maintain them in the operativeconfiguration without constituting a substantial obstacle to the fillingmaterial of the first facing region, a covering wall which delimits withthe base element, the first front wall and the containment wall, saidfirst facing region, the base element, the first front wall and thecovering wall being formed from a single netting element, the firstfront wall and the covering wall comprising bent portions of said singlenetting element, a second facing region which is to be filled withfilling material, the second facing region comprising a second frontwall extending from the reinforcing base element spaced from andopposite the first front wall on the other side of the bifacialreinforcing unit, and an upper portion disposed adjacent the secondfront wall and therewith defining said second facing region.
 2. Abifacial reinforcing unit according to claim 1, further comprisingbrackets located in the first facing region, each coupled, in use, tothe first front wall and to the containment wall.
 3. A bifacialreinforcing unit according to claim 2, wherein the brackets eachcomprise a quadrangular configuration with two opposing and spaced-apartsides coupled to the first front wall and to the containment wall,respectively, and another side located near the reinforcing baseelement.
 4. A bifacial reinforcing unit according to claim 2, whereineach bracket is produced using a metal rod.
 5. A bifacial reinforcingunit according to claim 1, wherein the first front wall comprises anadditional netting structure wherein meshes of the additional nettingstructure are more closely packed than meshes of the single nettingelement.
 6. A bifacial reinforcing unit according to claim 5, whereinthe additional netting structure of the first front wall comprises awire netting having hexagonal meshes.
 7. A bifacial reinforcing unitaccording to claim 6, wherein the wire netting of the additional nettingstructure is a first wire netting and the additional netting structurecomprises a second wire netting which has meshes different from those ofthe first wire netting and which is coupled to the first wire netting toconstitute overall the additional netting structure having meshes thatare more closely packed than the meshes of the single netting element ofthe reinforcing base element.
 8. A bifacial reinforcing unit accordingto claim 7, wherein the second wire netting is a netting having squaremeshes.
 9. A bifacial reinforcing unit according to claim 1, wherein thecontainment wall is covered with a geotextile material.
 10. A bifacialreinforcing unit according to claim 1, wherein the second front wall issupported in its position by brackets.
 11. A bifacial reinforcing unitaccording to claim 10, wherein, in the operative condition, the secondfront wall is arranged in an inclined manner with respect to the baseelement in order to define part of an inclined facing on whichvegetation can grow.
 12. A bifacial reinforcing unit according to claim1, wherein said second front wall and said upper portion compriserespective bent portions of said single netting element.
 13. A bifacialreinforcing unit according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion iscantilevered from an upper edge portion of said second front wall anddefines a free end spaced inwardly from said second front wall andupwardly from said base element.
 14. A method for the production of areinforced earthwork, wherein said method comprising the steps of: a)providing a bifacial reinforcing unit including a reinforcing devicehaving at least one reinforcing base element from which a first frontwall extends, a containment wall extending from the reinforcing baseelement at a distance from the first front wall in order to delimit atthe rear, in an operative configuration in which the first front walland the containment wall are erected with respect to the reinforcingbase element, a first facing region which is to be filled with fillingmaterial, a bracket coupled, in use, to the first front wall and to thecontainment wall in order to maintain them in the operativeconfiguration without constituting a substantial obstacle to the fillingmaterial of the first facing region, a covering wall which delimits withthe base element, the first front wall and the containment wall saidfirst facing region, the base element, the first front wall and thecovering wall being formed from a single netting element, the firstfront wall and the covering wall comprising bent portions of said singlenetting element, a second facing region which is to be filled withfilling material, the second facing region comprising a second frontwall extending from the reinforcing base element disposed on the otherside of the bifacial reinforcing unit and opposite to the first frontwall, and an upper portion disposed adjacent the second front wall andtherewith defining the second facing region, b) laying said bifacialreinforcing unit on a region of leveled earth, c) erecting the firstfront wall and the containment wall, and holding the first front walland the containment wall erect and spaced from one another in theoperative configuration using the bracket, d) filling the first facingregion delimited by the first front wall and the containment wall with afirst filling material, having dimensions substantially larger thandimensions of mesh of the first front wall in order to form a portion ofa first facing at the location of the first front wall, e) filling andleveling with a second filling material different from the first fillingmaterial, a region defined by the reinforcing base element outside thefirst facing region, to a height substantially equal to a height of thefirst front wall and the containment wall, and f) repeating stages a)through e), superposing on one another in succession a predeterminednumber of reinforcing devices until a desired height of the reinforcedearthwork is reached.
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein thefilling of the first facing region is carried out using mechanicalmeans.
 16. A method according to claim 14, wherein the method furthercomprises, for each repetition, erecting the second front wall so as todefine a portion of a second facing at the location of the second frontwall.
 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein each second front wallof each reinforcing unit is inclined with respect to the respectivereinforcing base element by a predetermined angle, the reinforcing baseelement of each subsequently superposed reinforcing device havingdimensions smaller than that of the reinforcing device underneath inorder to produce an overall second facing opposite the first facingwhich is inclined.
 18. A method according to claim 16, wherein thesecond facing is a facing of the type on which vegetation can grow. 19.A bifacial reinforcing unit for earthworks, said unit comprising asubstantially flat base element having opposite and horizontally-spacedapart ends, a boxed-shaped structure disposed adjacent one of said endsof said base element and a C-shaped structure disposed adjacent theother of said ends of said base element, said box-shaped structure beingdefined by a first wall extending upwardly from said one end of saidbase element, a containment wall extending upwardly from said baseelement in inwardly-spaced relation from said first wall and betweensaid first wall and said C-shaped structure, and a covering wall joinedto an upper edge region of said first wall and spaced upwardly from saidbase element, said first wall, said containment wall, said covering walland said base wall together defining a first facing region forcontaining a filling material, said C-shaped structure being defined bya second wall extending upwardly from the other said end of said baseelement in horizontally-spaced relation from said first wall, and a topwall joined to an upper edge region of said second wall and spacedupwardly from said base element, said second wall, said top wall andsaid base element together defining a second facing region forcontaining a filling material horizontally-spaced from said first facingregion.
 20. The bifacial reinforcing unit of claim 19, wherein saidbox-shaped structure and said C-shaped structure each extend along theentire length of the respective said ends of said base element.
 21. Thebifacial reinforcing unit of claim 19, further comprising a singlenetting element from which said base wall, said first and second walls,said covering wall and said top wall are formed, said first wall, saidcovering wall, said second wall and said top wall each being defined bya bent portion of said single netting element.
 22. The bifacialreinforcing unit of claim 19, wherein said top wall extends horizontallyinwardly from said upper edge region of said second wall towards saidfirst facing region, said top wall being cantilevered from said upperedge region of said second wall and defining a free end spaced inwardlyfrom said second wall.
 23. The bifacial reinforcing unit of claim 19,wherein said box-shaped structure and said C-shaped structure arehorizontally-spaced from one another and a planar portion of said baseelement extends therebetween, and said C-shaped structure openssidewardly into an area located above said planar portion of said baseelement.